Ben Hogan sold his Ben Hogan Golf Club Company to AMF (American Machine & Foundry) in 1960 and settled into a comfortable daily routine that he enjoyed at the office, at Shady Oaks Country Club and at home with his wife Valerie.
In the company’s early years when it was a struggling emerging club manufacturer, Hogan would work 14 to 16 hours a day and would regularly tour the plant and inspect the work being done. The sale to AMF gave him the chance to transition into a highly paid executive who had full command of the company that became so popular that it had problems keeping up with demand.
The sale to AMF also gave him the opportunity to scale back the hours he spent at the office and plant located in a warehouse district on the outskirts of Fort Worth. His typical day would see him leave the office around noon and head over to Shady Oaks Country Club where he would have lunch, usually alone in the men’s grill. After lunch he would hit golf balls. Often, he would grab Jody Vasquez who worked in the pro shop and the two would ride out to a distant area on the course where he could work on his shots in private.
Even though he had scaled back his tournament schedule, he still enjoyed putting in the time to work on his swing and ball striking. The sessions fit into his daily routine nicely and provided him the opportunity to test new products from his company.
Overhead view of the 14th hole at Shady Oaks Country Club (photo credit: Shady Oaks Country Club)
From 1960 to 1970 he would interrupt this daily routine by playing in a few tournaments. He never played in more than six in one year (1960) and one year (1963) he only played in one event. Even though his putting woes were debilitating at the time, he played respectably. As an example, he won just over $14,000 in 1964 in just four events. But it was the results in the tournaments he played in 1967 that really stood out giving fans a glimpse into the legend and the swing from his glory days.
Hogan hitting balls at the 1967 Masters (YouTube)
Hogan played in four events in 1967 and won a little more than $18,000. These four events represented some of the most prestigious tournaments on the PGA schedule: The Masters, Houston Champions Invitational, Colonial National Invitational, and the U.S. Open Championship. Hogan tamed his balky putting stroke to play well in each event.
It was at the Masters where Hogan showed a harbinger for the run he would make that year. After shooting rounds of 74 in the first round and 73 in the second round, Hogan exploded on the back nine on Saturday carding a record tying 30 that included another record tying six birdies.
1967 was the second year that the Masters was broadcast in color. Despite the fact that there was a strike by the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists that impacted the broadcast forcing CBS management personnel to handle the telecast, millions of people watched Hogan finish up this astonishing round of golf (including the author, an 11 year-old laying on the floor on his stomach, head propped in hands, watching the brand-new color TV in a Seattle suburb).
Ben Hogan tees off at Augusta National during the 1967 Masters (photo credit: Augusta National)
Patrons rose to their feet and greeted Hogan as he arrived at every green. At the par-4 10th hole, Hogan drove to the left side of the fairway and then hit his 7-iron approach shot to 6-feet and made the putt for birdie. He hit a 6-iron to 1-foot at the 11th hole for another birdie and followed up with another 6-iron at the iconic par-3 12th hole that ended up 12-feet from the hole and made the putt for his third birdie in a row.
| After a bit of deliberation Hogan pulled the cover off his 4-wood and as he did so, the patrons began to cheer.
Although he usually laid up at the reachable par-5 13th hole, he hit his drive into a position where he could contemplate the possibility of going for the green in two. After a bit of deliberation Hogan pulled the cover off his 4-wood and as he did so, the patrons began to cheer. He laced his 4-wood over the creek guarding the front of the green winding up 12-feet from the hole putting for eagle. He got down in two putts for his fourth birdie on the back nine.
After a par on the par-4 14th hole, he again hit a good drive on the par-5 15th hole setting him up for another try at hitting the green in two. Again, he pulled the 4-wood and again he hit it onto the green where he two putted for his fifth birdie on the back nine.
The 1967 Masters Past Champions Dinner (Augusta National)
After pars on the 16th and 17th holes he teed off on the par-4 18th hole avoiding the brand-new fairway bunkers on left side. He then hit 5-iron to 15-feet. The crowd around the 18th green, as well as the crowd that had been following Hogan that had swelled to triple its original size as the round wore on, erupted with a classic Augusta roar as he trod up the hill. Another roar soon followed as he sank the putt for a record-tying sixth birdie. Through three rounds he carded 15 birdies, more than any other player in the field that year.
Still a skilled ball striker, it was widely known that the flat stick was Hogan’s Achilles Heel.
“Maybe I’ve licked it,” Hogan said after his round referring to his putting. “Maybe I haven’t.”
His putting touch on Sunday was not as dialed in as it was on Saturday. After giving up three strokes to par on the first four holes he limped in with a 77 that put him into tenth place. The patrons greeted Hogan with applause and cheers at every green.
Gay Brewer won the Masters with a score of 280 beating Bobby Nichols by one stroke.
Jack Nicklaus helps Gay Brewer with the green jacket after Brewer won the 1967 Masters (photo credit: AP)
Hogan returned to Fort Worth and his comfortable routine while he waited for his next tournament, the Champions International in Houston at the Cypress Creek Golf Course which would also host the Ryder Cup in the fall. In the first week of May he teed off in the Champions and scored a 69 in the first round. His round included four birdies and two bogeys. Hogan found the flat fairways easy to walk even though the yardage provided its own challenge.
“Boy, that was a long course for a guy like me,” Hogan told the press upon completion of his round.
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Hogan backed up his first round 69 with another 69 in the second round. He told reporters after the round that his legs were holding up better than they did at the Masters. It was also disclosed that he would be having his shoulder operated on to relieve pain from bursitis.
In the third round, Hogan cooled off shooting a 78 but came roaring back with a final round 68 that placed him in third place three strokes behind Arnold Palmer and four strokes behind the winner, Frank Beard. It was his best four round score since he won the Colonial in 1959 and he collected $7187.50 for his third-place finish, one of the largest checks of his career.
After his strong showing in the Champions, Hogan resumed his daily routine at Shady Oaks and prepared to play in The Colonial National Invitational, a tournament he previously had won five times. The course that hosted the Colonial was Trinity River, a par 70, 7,132-yard track located in Fort Worth.
A day before the first round, the U.S.G.A. announced that Hogan was one of the players exempted from qualifying for the 1967 U.S. Open to be played at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ. Hogan earned his exemption by finishing in the low 15 scores at the 1966 Open at Olympic in San Francisco, CA.
In the first round of the colonial, Hogan fired a sizzling 67, that included an eagle on the first hole. He trailed the leader, Bob Stockton, who shot a course-record-tying 65. Hogan was tied for second with Bobby Nichols and Mason Rudolph. These four players were the only ones in the field to break par in the first round.
Hogan was also on track to tie the course record as he was 5-under-par going into the 17th hole where the gallery had swelled to the point where 10 marshals and two off-duty policemen were needed to maintain control. He ran into trouble at the 17th when he misjudged the wind and bunkered his approach shot. He blasted out to 25 feet and then three-putted for a double bogey.
In the second round, Stockton shot a 66 and sat atop a four-stroke lead over Tom Weiskopf who matched the course record of 65. Hogan shot a 72 and was eight back.
Hogan stormed back into contention in the third round as he moved steadily over his hometown course shooting a one-under-par 69 placing him three back of the leaders. Weiskopf moved into a tie for first shooting a 70 while Stockton struggled with a 74.
A thunderstorm on Friday night had flooded the course and a downpour early Saturday delayed play for an hour and made Trinity River’s 7,132 yards play even longer. Rains resumed after play was completed on Saturday ensuring that the course would continue to be soft and play long.
“After I opened with two bogeys, I’m please with it,” Hogan told reporters. He birdied the 4th hole chipping in from 35-feet and then made birdies at the 12th hole from 7-feet and the 13th hole from 30-feet.
| Hogan shot a 73 in the windy, cloudy, and cold conditions.
Thanks to some pressure pitch and chip shots, Dave Stockton held on to win shooting a final-round 73 winning $23,000. Charles Coody shot the only subpar round of the day, a 69 to place 2nd while Hogan finished tied for third with George Archer. Hogan shot a 73 in the windy, cloudy, and cold conditions. Weiskopf stumbled to an 81 and finished far down the leader board.
Hogan won another check for $7187.50 and then he added another $940 in the U.S. Open the following month. His total winnings in 1967 were $18,055 his best year since 1951 when he coincidently also played in only four tournaments (Masters, Colonial, U.S Open and World Championship of Golf where he pocketed $12,500).
After this display in 1967 that he could still play great golf if he could harness his putting stroke, Hogan played only three more rounds of competitive PGA Tour golf. He returned to his daily routine of working at the Ben Hogan Company, lunch, and practice at Shady Oaks. But what he provided golf fans during this stretch of 1967 was a rare glimpse into the greatness of the man.
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Larry Baush is the author of Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema available at 9acespublishing.com or on Amazon as a paperback or Kindle edition. Larry carries a single digit handicap at Rainier Golf and Country Club in Seattle, Washington. He is the editor of tourbackspin.com. You can contact larry at larry@9acespublishing.com.
